Mike Triplett, The Times-Picayune
The New Orleans Saints on Tuesday announced that they will raffle off an authentic Super Bowl ring for $2 a chance with proceeds going toward Gulf Coast renewal .
There will be a website established with more details, but it isn’t active just yet.
The New Orleans Saints know a thing or two about raising a community’s spirits. Their expertise will be called upon again Tuesday
Rather than head to Baton Rouge to have lunch with Gov. Bobby Jindal and visit with legislators, the Saints and the governor’s office have decided to take their show where the real action is: the oil soaked coast of Louisiana.
“We’re heading down to Plaquemines Parish,” Coach Sean Payton said. “I think the idea of switching gears and having that lunch down there is appropriate. I know the players – all of us – are looking forward to being down there and spending some time with those people that are going through so much. Our short-term schedule is that. Tomorrow we practice in the a.m. for the (organized team activity), and then Tuesday we’ll head south.”
New Orleans Saints tight end Jeremy Shockey will be participating in this weekend’s minicamp, according to General Manager Mickey Loomis.
It’s not clear if Shockey will be limited at all after he suffered an apparent seizure in the team’s weight room following a practice last Thursday. Neither the Saints nor Shockey or his representatives have offered many details about his diagnosis or any future concerns.
Shockey stayed overnight in the hospital for some tests and observation last Thursday night, but he was apparently in good condition and insisted via his twitter account that he’ll be fine.
Teammate Darren Sharper, who visited Shockey in the hospital, said the doctor described Shockey’s episode as a seizure. But Shockey later tweeted that it “wasn’t a seizure!!! But a hell of a scare!!”
Shockey’s health will obviously be a much-discussed topic on the first day of minicamp Friday.
The war of words between Saints safety Darren Sharper and Minnesota Vikings tight end Visanthe Shiancoe appeared to escalate on Wednesday when Sharper didn’t react well to being compared to terrorist Osama Bin Laden.
The two friends and former teammates have been trash-talking back and forth via their Twitter accounts for the last few weeks, helping to generate some extra buzz for their nationally-televised Week 1 Thursday night showdown in the Superdome. But Sharper said Shiancoe went too far Wednesday when he posted a photo of Bin Laden with a No. 42 written on his chest and the words “I’m Darren Sharper” coming out of his mouth.
The Super Bowl title did a lot of things for the New Orleans Saints.
Most of all, it restored pride. Or more accurately, it established pride in an organization long in need of some.
Heretofore, the Saints were known largely as the NFL’s version of the Chicago Cubs, the league’s lovable fleur de losers. They provided content for NFL Films’ follies but not much else.
Now, it’s cool to be a Saint. For the first time in, well, maybe, forever, former players swell with pride when they say they’re ex-Saints. Black and Gold membership never carried more status.
The nuances of what does or doesn’t qualify as “interest” or an “offer” can be debated for months.
All that really matters is that Darren Sharper came back to the New Orleans Saints when he didn’t absolutely have to. And that the record-breaking, 34-year-old free safety — 35 in November — is a welcomed sight at the team’s practice facility, even if he can’t do much more than watch right now after microfracture knee surgery.
“The rehab process is a process, so it’s just a matter of time, ” he said. “Right now it’s feeling good. I’d like to be on the field, but there’ll be a time for that.”
There likely will be a time for it with the Saints, because the franchise has become such an attractive one to play for, players will make concessions to be in New Orleans.
No one has enjoyed their offseason more than New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who has experienced life the last few months as only a Super Bowl MVP could.
Disney World vacations, golf with Jack Nicklaus, appearances on daytime and prime-time talk shows – Brees has done it all. Now, he said Thursday, he and his teammates need football.
“I think just about every player on our team had his high school jersey retired and a street named after him in his hometown,” Brees joked. “All those things, they are all great things.
Minneapolis — A Minnesota judge ruled Friday that he will keep the suspensions of two Minnesota Vikings on hold if they follow through on their plan to file an appeal in their closely watched fight against the NFL’s anti-drug policy.
An attorney for defensive tackles Kevin Williams and Pat Williams said he planned to file that appeal later Friday in Hennepin County District Court.
“As a matter of fairness and as a matter of law, we are convinced the NFL cannot and will not be allowed to suspend Kevin and Pat,” attorney Peter Ginsberg said.
This ruling likely will keep New Orleans Saints defensive end Will Smith eligible for the entire 2010 season as well.
he New Orleans Saints and free agent linebacker Clint Ingram have agreed to terms on a one-year contract, team officials said late Wednesday afternoon. Financial terms of the deal were not immediately disclosed.
Ingram, 27, spent the first four years of his NFL career with Jacksonville after being drafted out of Oklahoma. In that stretch he was credited with 159 tackles and 5.5 sacks. He also had two interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown.
In 2008, Ingram worked with Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams when Williams was with the Jaguars and thus he should be familiar with the Saints defensive schemes.
His addition helps plug a roster hole that opened when linebacker Scott Fujita signed a $14 million deal with the Cleveland Browns, and bolsters a defensive front seven Saints officials identified as the area of most concern in the offseason.
May
18Sports Illustrated’s Peter King rolled out his annual predictions for the upcoming NFL season, but he admitted that he “stinks” at doing this every year. Last year, he ranked the New Orleans Saints at No. 24 — which turned out to be 23 spots too low.
This year, King has the Saints at No. 5, behind No. 1 Green Bay and No. 2 San Diego, among others.
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